Welcome late-spring, a time when you can rip your dinner out of the ground, rinse it, and eat it raw. Or you can roast it, dress it with olive oil and mint, bake it in a gratin, or pile it on a sandwich.

It’s strawberry season! Last weekend I discovered an early patch of local strawberries, visiting Johnson’s Corner Farm in Medford, NJ. But over the next few weeks, berry farms across the country will be opening for business, fresh fruit ripe and ready in the fields.

The Galloping Gourmet series that made Graham Kerr famous was before my time, but I’ve caught a few clips of his hilarity on YouTube. He literally galloped over a chair to make his entrance and drank copious amounts of wine as he cooked, never holding back on the clarified butter.